Her entire body seemed to relax at once. He’d said the magic words, and even better, they were true. He’d meant every one of them.
“Thank you,” she said, turning her head to give him a slight smile. “I appreciate and accept your apology. It’s hard for me to understand how your life is causing you stress right now, but just because I don’t understand it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. And I know that stress can make even the best people say things they don’t mean.” She paused a beat. “And I think you’re one of the best people.”
They didn’t say much to each other on the drive back to the hotel, but at least there was no silence pushing down on the car.
Back in their room, he turned on the television for background noise while he applied for a job at the company that bought Terry—maybe it was a way to get back in. But he didn’t need the television for company. Selina, sitting on her bed flipping through her phone, provided that and more.
Chapter Eight
The buzz of the heater might as well have been a mosquito buzzing directly in Selina’s ears for all she was able to relax her mind and sleep. The highway noise couldn’t drown it out, though she was at least honest enough with herself to admit that the cars would be keeping her awake if the blowing air wasn’t already doing it.
She rolled over in bed, kicking at her sheet. No plan. Marc’s words knocked on her subconscious every time she got anywhere remotely near sleep. The problem wasn’t that he’d said the words—though they had hurt like a large, sharp needle. The problem was that they were true. Taking one class per semester at a community college and working at a diner until she could escape wasn’t a plan. It had been an existence, and she’d been lucky that Marc had been the one to walk into Babe’s Diner and give her this opportunity.
She sighed. That had been more of a plan than what she currently had, which was find a job and a place to live. But how? God, how would she do it in the week she had the use of Marc’s hotel room at the ski resort? She’d e-mailed her professor, both about her final assignment and the gallery, but that wasn’t really a plan, either. That was a shot in the dark.
She pushed the sheets down and sat up. She didn’t want to rely on Marc. They were both lost and wandering. If she asked—or even looked like she might need it—he would probably be willing to find a place in Salt Lake City—pestering his friend through texts and e-mail—and she could be adrift again, just in a bigger city. The jokes they had shared and the intimate conversations would become sore as they became the only thing holding each other up.
Resolved to make a plan past the week at the resort, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, grabbed her phone, and tiptoed her way to the bathroom. Door shut and light on, Selina posted to Facebook that she needed a job and a room in Salt Lake City, starting immediately. Most of the people she knew from high school had gone to Spokane when they’d left for the “big city,” but a few had ended up in Salt Lake, and if they didn’t have any leads, maybe they knew someone who did. She texted Babe, too. Maybe Babe’s friend knew of something or someone that could help.
Her business done, she flipped the light off and snuck back out of the bathroom. Enough light streamed through the window that she could make out Marc’s sleeping form. He was sleeping in a T-shirt and his boxers, a far cry from last night when they’d both been sleeping in as many layers as they’d been able to put on.
He was handsome and kind, and as soon as she found a place to live, she’d never see him again. The realization made her sad . . . and lonely. It would be nice to have someone she was more than Facebook acquaintances with in Salt Lake. More importantly, it would have been nice to continue to know Marc. Maybe they could exchange e-mails after he returned to Seattle after his adventures. Or wherever it was he was going to go next.
Or maybe when he dropped her off at wherever she was going to be, that would be the end of this. If she wanted anything more to happen with him than that kiss she could still feel on her lips, she would need to act now.
Before she’d realized what she was even considering, she was sitting on the edge of his bed and had placed her hand on his shoulder.
Marc stirred, then murmured a soft, “Hmm?”
“I couldn’t sleep. Can I get in bed with you?”
“Hmm?” he muttered again. “Oh . . . yes, uh, of course.” He scooted over, taking most of the sheets and blankets with him. But then he shifted around, reaching around behind him and lifting the covers and sheets off himself. He gave them a good yank so that she had covers now, too, as well as space in the bed and someone to cuddle with.
When she got in bed, she rolled over to her side, and he curled up around her like they had been navigating sharing a bed for years. His hand rested on her stomach as they spooned. The light touch stirred desire deep in her belly, want tingling between her legs.